


Invasion: Love of Yesterday

by TheHood13



Series: Love of Yesterday Series [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHood13/pseuds/TheHood13
Summary: On Earth-1, Kara Danvers was an ordinary woman. More importantly, she was Oliver Queen's childhood friend and the love of his life, but she tragically died in The Undertaking. Three and a half years later, Barry brings her Kryptonian doppelganger to help fight The Dominators, causing some interesting interactions and events to unfold between her and Oliver. [AU] [Part 1 of the Love of Yesterday Series]
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Oliver Queen
Series: Love of Yesterday Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1856701
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, some of you may have already read this story of mine since I posted it on another site a while ago. I only recently made an ao3 account and thought I'd share my works here. For those who aren't familiar with it, here's the run-down: A/N: This story is just going to be a slightly different version of the 'Invasion!' crossover, with most changes happening with Oliver and Kara's interactions. It will be the first in a series, which will show the evolution of Oliver and Kara's relationship. 
> 
> I have to give a huge thank you to 'danversqueen' on IG who gave me the idea and inspiration for this story. Check her out!

**_(15 May 2013)_ **

_Oliver's motorbike skidded to right in front of the back entrance to CNRI. Somehow, through all of the chaos, he could hear Thea and Laurel's screams in the distance. "They aren't in the building", Oliver thought to himself, which was great. They were safe, but Kara was still there. He hopped off his bike and ran inside the building, taking off his helmet once inside._

_Immediately, he started scanning the wreckage and debris before him. To his right was a man lying stomach down. He quickly ran to him and turned him over. Tommy. Oliver pressed his fingers against his throat… he was alive, just unconscious. He heard a slight movement and whipped to his right, spotting the lower half of a woman's body, unable to see her face through the debris._

_"I'm here, Oliver"._

_He heard the faint words and recognized Kara's voice, immediately jumping to remove the blocks of concrete debris from around her._

_"You're gonna be fine!"_

_Those were the only words Oliver could speak up. He didn't know whether he was trying to convince Kara or himself. He looked at her picture almost every day for five years that he was gone, and he had just got her back. There was no way he was going to lose her again. He removed the final piece of rubble from beside her and for the first time got a clear view of her upper body… the metal rod lodged in her chest. Seeing that made him feel like he was the one that was stabbed in the heart._

_"Kara…"_

_"Is Thea safe? Thea… and Laurel… I tried to get them out of here", said Kara, speaking just a little louder than a whisper._

_"Yeah, yeah, you did! You saved them", Oliver said, forcing a smile onto his face, "Hey, I'm going to get you out of here, you're going to be fine", continued Oliver, as he started looking at the ground around Kara's body. Surely there was a way to move her, save her…_

_"Oliver, stop", whimpered Kara, "I'm sorry."_

_"No… Don't apologise…"_

_"I heard Thea was here… I had to come get her, save her… I tried to be a hero… like you, Ollie… but I'm not…"_

_"No, no, you are. You are better than me… better than I could ever be… and that's why I love you, Kara". He was forcing a smile onto his face and fighting back the urge to let a single tear fall from his eye. He didn't want to believe it, but these were her final moments. He wanted her last image of him to be of him smiling, not crying._

_"Never lose that smile, Ollie", she whimpered, with a radiant smile of her own._

_"I won't."_

_"It's what I love most about you…" She barely finished her words, before her eyes closed and her head started slumping to the side._

_"No, no, stay with me", said Oliver as he caught her head. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore, "It should have been me… Open your eyes Kara! Please, open your eyes…"_


	2. Chapter 2

_**(29 November 2016)** _

"Anything?" asked Oliver, as he trotted down the stairs leading to the ground floor of the abandoned building in downtown Star City.

"Zilch" replied Felicity over the comms. They got an unexpected alert of a possible sighting of Vigilante. Oliver and Diggle quickly suited up and went to inspect the building.

"He's got to be here somewhere" replied Oliver, walking to meet Diggle who entered from a separate door.

"What are the chances that this guy decided that he just had enough of this life? You know, no health insurance, sick of the crazy hours, and bullets actually aren't that cheap…", Felicity continued rambling until Vigilante dropped from the ceiling 30 meters in front of Oliver and Dig. Oliver immediately fired off an arrow at Vigilante's pistol, disarming him. However, Vigilante swiftly drew another machine pistol. Oliver and Diggle barely had time to react before they were swept away at an immeasurable speed, within seconds finding themselves back in The Loft.

"I'm sorry, man, I…" apologised Barry.

"It's ok!" replied Diggle, trying to keep his balance while frantically reaching for the doors to the balcony. Oliver closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath trying to prevent himself from vomiting. The sound of Diggle vomiting didn't help him feel any less nauseous. The door opened and Felicity walked in.

"Hey" said Barry sheepishly.

"Hi Barry" replied Felicity with a smile on her face. Barry turned to Oliver, curious to know who the other man in the building was.

"So who was that guy?"

"That, was Vigilante and we nearly had him!" replied Oliver sternly, still trying to fight the urge to vomit.

"Really? Because it looked like he was about to "Scarface" you guys"

"Barry is there something that I can do for you? Another evil speedster to help you with?" asked Oliver, questioning Barry with affront.

"Maybe, actually. That's not why I'm here, though."

"What's so urgent that you had to rush to Star City?" asked Felicity

"Aliens."

"Aliens?" Oliver wasn't sure heard Barry right.

"Aliens" repeated Barry.

"I swear to God, Barry. My life was somewhat normal before I met you", interjected Diggle, looking disdainfully at Barry, still wiping his mouth.

"I mean, I'm sorry. Look, okay, they're real, and they're already here, and, from what Lyla told us, it does not appear to be for peace."

"Lyla knows about this?" asked Diggle.

"Lyla yeah, she came to… where are you…" Barry didn't finish his sentence as Diggle stormed off. Oliver, having noticed that Thea arrived, gave her a "What are you doing here?" look.

"I called Thea" said Felicity.

"Yeah, I came to have you sign this before City Council went into mutiny but that can totally wait. Count me in!" said Thea, excitedly.

"For what? I thought you retired", said Oliver

"Yeah, but it's… it's aliens."

"Aw, that is so cute. You guys are just going to get together and go fight some aliens… Have you lost your mind?!" screamed Felicity sarcastically, "They're aliens, and there's only four of you."

"Not if we get Stein and, you know, all the others", said Barry

"They're calling themselves the Legends", added Oliver

"Egotistical but catchy", commented Thea.

"Do you know where they are?" asked Barry

"I know where they were."

* * *

"What is this place?" asked Thea as she walked with Oliver and Barry out to where the Legends were expected to arrive.

"It's this old hall, hangar thing that S.T.A.R. Labs owns. Or I guess I own it", replied Barry

"Well, you should do something with it" said Thea.

"All right, so let me get this right. Our time-traveling buddies in a flying timeship are supposed to just pop up right here, right?" At one point in Diggle's life, he actually believed he'd seen everything. Mirakuru soldiers, speedsters, a hot tub that brings people back to life. He actually did believe in extraterrestrial life, but time-travelling was where he firmly drew the line.

"Yeah", replied Felicity, "This is the time and place I gave them, so if they got my message, they should be here right... now", she finished, as the Waverider appeared in the sky and proceeded to land in front of them.

"You know why I've never done drugs? Because I was always afraid I'd see weird stuff."

"Okay, take everybody inside, all right? I'll be right back", said Barry.

"Where are you going?" asked Oliver.

"Well, since we're fighting aliens, I figured we should get one of our own, right? You found the right Earth?" asked Barry to Cisco.

"Tachyon device tracked you on Earth-38 when you met her, so you should find her there" replied Cisco.

"All right. Hey, just give me a couple of minutes, I got to talk to Oliver". Cisco nodded, continuing to adjust his Reverb glasses while Barry walked over to Oliver who was conversing with Thea, "Hey Oliver, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure", replied Oliver. Diggle and Thea took a step backwards to give them some privacy, but Barry quickly called Thea back.

"Actually Thea, I think you need to hear this too", said Barry. She walked with Oliver and Barry several meters away from Diggle and Felicity who started walking towards the Waverider to greet the Legends.

"What's going on?" asked Oliver, as they came to a stop.

"So, earlier this year, I used a tachyon device to increase my speed to try defeat Zoom. While we were testing it, I ended running so fast that I ended up in a parallel universe and while I was there I met this alien. She's a hero on her Earth, she's Supergirl, and she has all of these crazy powers, she's fast, strong, more powerful than a locomotive…"

"Barry… get to the point", said Oliver, becoming slightly annoyed by Barry's rambling.

"Alright, it's just…"

He couldn't do it. He knew telling them that the alien he's bringing is the doppelganger of one of their closest friends who died three years ago would be hard, but he didn't expect it to be this hard,

"I just wanted to tell you guys that you might get freaked out by her." Oliver chuckled a little at that statement from Barry.

"Barry, I think Thea and I have both seen our fair share that says otherwise", said Oliver.

"Yeah I mean, Mirakuru soldiers, magic, people coming back from the dead. A 'super' alien is just the next extra step of craziness for us" said Thea jovially.

"Alright. I'll go get her then", said Barry, then walking back to Cisco. Oliver studied him intensely until he hopped into the breach with Cisco. He didn't have the resolve to say what he wanted. He was definitely hiding something.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next couple of chapters will just be 'Invasion!' with slight differences.

"Team Arrow is here. Team Legends is here. Is that everyone?" said Felicity, trotting to the front of the hall.

"I think so?" replied H.R.

"Nate and Amaya are back watching the Waverider. The newbies" added Sara.

Oliver was anxiously awaiting the return of Barry. Thea chalked that interaction up to no more than Barry's social awkwardness and concern for his friends, but something was definitely up with this… Supergirl. A few more seconds passed before a breach opened up to the left of hall. Simultaneously, Barry and Cisco jumped out with…

"Woah! That was cool", remarked Kara Zor-El.

"Guys. Thanks for coming", shouted Barry as they walked towards everybody.

Kara quickly scanned the faces of everybody as she walked towards them. Almost everybody to her right were mildly surprised or fascinated, but the blonde woman at the center and the three on the other end all were… astounded. Staring in disbelief. The blonde woman turned her head to look to everyone on the right, almost as if it was out of concern. Silence echoed through the hall for a few seconds, before the handsome brown-haired man to her left spoke.

"Barry, I… thought… you said you were bringing us an alien", he said loudly. Kara couldn't quite pick up the tone in his voice. Slight irritation perhaps. Dumbfounded? Incredulousness?

"Yeah, we did. Everybody, this is my friend, Kara Danvers or, as she's known on her Earth, Supergirl", replied Barry.

"What makes her so super?" inquired the young black man on the right.

"Well…"

Kara immediately hovered above everyone. Just behind where the two groups were standing, she blasted her heat vision onto the concrete floor, creating the shape of the House of El symbol.

"I'm convinced", said the tall, dark-haired man to the right. She barely knew this guy, it was the first time she'd ever seen him, but for some reason, he reminded Kara of her cousin. Strange, she thought.

* * *

Yeah, no, maybe he and Thea hadn't seen everything just yet. Instead of being angry with Barry, Oliver actually decided to cut him some slack for this one. Telling your friend that a super-powered alien from a parallel universe is the doppelganger of the woman he loved who died three and a half years ago in his arms? That would be an extremely difficult task for anybody.

Oliver watched her as she greeted the Legends. Everything about her was the same. The smile, her voice, the laughter. He was doing his best to shun his emotions and stay focused on the mission, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. He watched intensely as she reached Sara.

"Kara, this is Sara Lance, The White Canary. Captain of the Legends", said Barry.

"Kara Danvers…" said Sara admiringly. The last time she saw Kara was before she got on The Gambit with Oliver. Well, her Kara anyway. Her Kara was much younger back then, the same age as Laurel. It was weird for Sara to be older than this Kara. She was taking this pretty well, but she was fairly concerned what Oliver was feeling.

"Yep that's me", replied Kara with a chuckle.

"It's really good to see you" she said, fighting the urge to pull Kara in for a hug and opting for a handshake instead.

"Have we met before?" asked Kara curiously, having picked up on Sara's tone. Sara didn't know how to reply, but she glanced at Barry, who simply shook his head subtly. He figured this probably wasn't the time to tell her that she had a deceased doppelganger on this Earth.

"Uhh, no. You just look like someone I used to know" replied Sara cheerfully. Kara smiled back at her before moving on to Team Arrow. Luckily with her Kryptonian memory and just generally being good with names, she'd only need one introduction to everybody.

"This is Team Arrow. This is Thea Queen, Speedy" said Barry

"Nice to meet you" said Kara as she extended her hand. She was startled when Thea ignored her hand and leapt forward with a hug, "Oh, ok then" said Kara nervously laughing, hugging Thea back.

"Sorry, it's just… really cool to see you" said Thea gleefully. As soon as she saw Kara pop through the breach, all of her memories of the night of The Undertaking came flooding back.

She was at CNRI with Laurel, helping Laurel pack up and salvage important case files. The earthquake device went off, trapping her and Laurel inside. Tommy helped Laurel escape, but was too exhausted to remove the debris from around Thea. That's when Kara arrived. Tommy was initially furious at Kara for being there, knowing what it would do to Oliver if something happened to her, but he needed the help, and together, they saved Thea's life.

Thea felt like she never had the chance to thank Kara for saving her life. Even though it's a different Kara, Thea still felt like she could finally do that, in some way.

"John Diggle, Spartan", said Diggle, introducing himself with a smile.

"Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow", said Oliver, putting on his best poker face while shaking Kara's hand.

As soon as Kara walked away, heading towards Felicity, H.R. and Caitlyn, Diggle tapped Oliver on the shoulder, and gestured with his head that they needed to talk. They took a few steps away from Thea before conversing.

"How are you holding up man?" asked Diggle

"I'm fine."

"You sure? I know I probably have no idea what you're feeling now, but coming face to face with an alien doppelganger of Kara can't be easy on you"

"Diggle, I'm fine. Really. You know more than anyone that the mission comes first. She clearly doesn't know. I'd like to keep it that way until this is over. Until then, she's just Supergirl to me."

"Ok." Usually Diggle didn't like when Oliver shut out the human side of himself, but in this case, it was probably needed. Seeing Oliver like this did still trouble him. He felt like Prometheus was maybe starting to agitate Oliver more than he'd care to admit and the recent revelation that an alien invasion had begun was also unnerving. Things usually didn't work out too well when Oliver was like this.


	4. Chapter 4

Immediately after the first introduction, Kara ran the name gauntlet against everybody again and made sure she knew their names. Unsurprisingly, she remembered everyone correctly.

"Okay, Cisco, we should probably get started", shouted Oliver. Cisco quickly displayed the only picture they had of the Dominators up on the screens.

"Okay..." started Barry, "These are the Dominators. We don't know much about them…"

"Except they're really strong." Barry was interrupted by Kara, "I heard a lot of stories about them when I was a kid. They came to my planet before I was born. They did experiments on a lot of people. Killed a lot more."

"Well, they're not the only ones with superhuman strength, I hear. Barry says that you're more powerful than a locomotive", said Thea appraisingly.

"We should use Supergirl as a standard for training", said Oliver, preferring not to refer to her as Kara.

"Since when is Robin Hood calling the shots?" interjected Mick, not bothering to close his mouth while chewing his burger and ignoring the tempered look that Oliver gave him. Oliver had been called many things throughout his crusade. Kapiushon, Al-Sahim, but Robin Hood was the only name that he totally and utterly despised.

"What I think Mick is trying to say is it would be nice if we knew who was in charge around here", said Jefferson, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Maybe we should take a vote. Choose a leader. Someone we can all trust", suggested Ray.

"Well, I trust Oliver. He's got my vote", immediately added Cisco.

"I appreciate that, Cisco but Barry put us all together. It should be him", said Oliver.

"Fair enough", replied Cisco. Barry, totally taken aback by the vote of confidence, looked wide-eyed at Oliver. Oliver nodded at Barry, assuring him that he was fit to lead and that he had the trust of everybody in the room.

"Okay. Cool, all right, well, I guess as Team Leader, first thing to do is start out by…"

"Doing a test run", said Oliver.

"Let's do a test run. Yeah, let's do a test run…"

"Against Supergirl"

"Against Supergirl, all right? Test run against Supergirl."

"Are we just supposed to pretend like we don't hear him?" chimed in Sara, drawing smiles from everybody in the room.

"So just suit up. Mm-kay? Look alive. We're training to fight aliens by fighting an alien, so, suit up". Everybody started heading back to their gear, but Barry called after Oliver, Sara and Thea and asked to speak with them privately.

Barry noticed their body languages as he approached them. Sara was looking at Kara with admiration and appreciation, while Thea seemed ecstatic to meet her. Oliver was a lot more reserved. He was clearly taking the revelation much harder than the other two.

"Hey, I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you guys about Kara…" whispered Barry.

"Don't worry about it Barry, its fine" interrupted Sara.

"That's what you were trying to tell us before you went to get her?" asked Thea, with Barry nodding his head.

"Does she know about this Earth's Kara?" asked Oliver

"No, no, she doesn't."

"Good, I'd like to keep it that way until this is over" said Oliver, looking at all three of them. They all nodded in unison, understanding Oliver's reasoning. Thea and Sara walked away, but before Barry could, Kara jogged over to him and Oliver.

"Hey, hey Barry, this is Oliver right? _That_ Oliver, the one who trained you?" asked Kara enthusiastically.

"Uhh, yeah, yeah, this is Oliver. The first person to train me" said Barry awkwardly.

"Well, you did a really good job", said Kara jovially towards Oliver

"It's because I didn't hold back. I shot him. You can't hold back either."

"He did shoot me."

"Ouch. Okay. Are you sure about that? I just met these people", said Kara.

"These people need to understand this isn't going to be easy. Don't hold back. Especially against me."

"Yes, sir. Wow. Does he not like me?" asked Kara as Oliver walked away.

"Oh, no, he's pretty much like that with everyone. He'll warm up to you" said Barry, trying to appear to brush off Oliver's behaviour.

Kara was getting a very strange feeling from Oliver. From his sister too. Oliver was being really cold towards her while Thea literally threw herself into an embrace with Kara at first sight despite having never met before. Sara's interaction with her also seemed a little odd, and it didn't go unnoticed that Barry had to speak to the three of them in private. Kara obviously chose to block out her hearing and not eavesdrop on their conversations, but something seemed to be up. She had a feeling that she wasn't being told everything.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's just mostly been 'Invasion!' all over again so far, but I promise in these next few chapters, we're going to see more. Introducing flashbacks...

_**(15 May 2013)** _

_"Tommy?" said Oliver, slowly treading towards the hospital bed in Starling General._

_"Oliver. Is Laurel okay? Thea? I was at CNRI…"_

_"Tommy, they're fine" replied Oliver reassuringly._

_"And Kara?"_

_"She made it out too", lied Oliver with a forced smile. There was no reason to distress Tommy with the news of her death. He had just suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage and was only just stabilised by the doctors. Telling him anything distressing now could be disastrous._

_"I'm sorry, Oliver. I was angry… and jealous", said Tommy, alluding to how he had shunned and behaved callously towards Oliver for the past several weeks, "I am my father."_

_"No, no you're not!" replied Oliver adamantly._

_"Did you kill him?"_

_"No…"_

_"Thank you."_

_Oliver smiled at Tommy, awaiting Laurel's arrival at any second. Tommy's lips started to twitch. After no more than a second, he realised something was terribly wrong. Tommy's eyes were fully diluted, and he looked as if he was trying to say something but the words didn't want to come out of his mouth. His eyes shut, causing Oliver to lunge towards Tommy._

_"Tommy?" said Oliver, as he put his hands on Tommy's shoulder. Suddenly, the heart rate monitor started to flatline, the monotonous beep ringing out into the ward. He was going into cardiac arrest. Oliver quickly jumped backwards, rushing towards the door. Just as he exited he bumped into Laurel, nearly knocking her over._

_"Ollie, what's going on?" she asked._

_"Tommy! He's going into cardiac arrest" he replied, "Help please! Get a doctor!" he screamed desperately. He rushed back with Laurel into the ward, who darted towards Tommy body and started to cradle his head in her hands._

_"Tommy, Tommy, please wake up! Please!" she said as she caressed his cheeks while tears started to roll down her own. No more than a couple of seconds later burst Dr Schwartz into the room with several nurses._

_"Mr Queen, please I'm going to need you to leave the room" she said. Oliver didn't want to leave Tommy's side, but it was necessary to allow the doctors to save his life. He put his arm on Laurel's shoulder, gently trying to pull her away._

_"Laurel, we have to go" said Oliver._

_"No. No! I'm not leaving him, I can't!" she screamed. Oliver had to use a little more force to pull her away from his body, something he so desperately didn't want to do but had to, "Tommy! No! No!"_

_She continued screaming, fighting to stay close to him. Her actions were quintessential of a person feeling tremendous guilt. Oliver had seen it before with Slade, who refused to leave Shado's body and stayed by it for hours after she'd been shot. Eventually, they managed to remove themselves from the ward, Oliver pulling Laurel into an embrace as soon as they were out. He cradled her in his arms, letting her weep into his chest as he let a few tears roll down his cheeks too._

_"This can't be happening" she sobbed, "Not both of them in one night… not both of them…"_

_Those words echoed in Oliver's mind multiple times over as he watched the doctors use a defibrillator to attempt to restart Tommy's heart. One charge… then another… then another… Once the doctors stopped, he realised that the inevitable had occurred. He kissed Laurel on the forehead before bringing her even tighter into his embrace, weeping with her._

* * *

"Barry!"

Oliver was snapped out of his memories when he heard Jax call out Barry's name. It was nearly time for them to spar Kara. Mostly everyone had suited up, and were now just double-checking their equipment or stretching. He was standing with Barry and got lost in his thoughts. Seeing Kara Danvers once again had triggered more than just the memories of her death. Her death was just the beginning of the worst. Later that night, Tommy died too, pushing Laurel towards alcoholism and spurring her hate for the Arrow, while Oliver confined himself to Lian Yu for several months as his family's company started to crumble.

Barry whipped around, hearing Jax call his name. "Before we start training, there's something you need to hear."

"A message that would be better if we could share with you in private" added Stein while glancing at Oliver.

"All right, I'll step away" said Oliver.

"No, no, it's fine. You can stay", quickly added Barry. Oliver trusted Barry with the leadership of this mission, so Barry felt that he could trust Oliver with whatever Stein and Jax had to say.

"All right, but no one else" said Dr Stein

"All right." Barry looked around at everybody else. Ray was just adjusting a gauntlet on his suit while Diggle was checking the sights on his handgun. They were almost ready, "Let's make it quick."

* * *

_"A war is coming, Captain Hunter, and at some point you're going to be called back to Central City to fight it. So you need to know that while you and your team have been in the temporal zone, I made a choice that affected the timeline. As you know, whenever you alter the past, those changes affect the present and get compounded in the future. When you return, you will be in the new timeline I created, where everyone's past and everyone's future has been affected, including yours. When you come back, don't trust anything or anyone. Not even me."_

"Where did you get that from?" asked Barry, as the voice message came to the end.

"We found it in a secret room inside the Waverider. It was sent by you, 40 years from now" said Jax.

"40 years from now? Barry, what the hell does this mean?" asked Oliver.

"It means I screwed things up when I changed the past."

"What did you do?" inquired Dr Stein.

"I went back in time, and I saved my mom. I created a timeline where she's alive. It's called Flashpoint. I lived in it for a few months, until I realized that I made a big mistake, and I tried to reset the timeline, put things back to how they were supposed to be, but…"

"But it didn't work" said Jax, finishing Barry's sentence for him.

"Wow. Barry, that's…" Oliver was completely lost for words. At first, he felt anger at Barry's irresponsibility and naivety, but he quickly placed himself in Barry's shoes and could only sympathise. He knew that if he had the chance, he'd save his parents, he'd save Laurel, he'd save his Kara. He couldn't fault Barry for doing what anybody would do in the same circumstance.

"So what's changed since you did this?" inquired Dr Stein

"Cisco's brother is dead. Caitlin has powers. Diggle has a son now instead of a daughter."

"What? John had a daughter?" asked Oliver. After seeing Dig with JJ, it was strange to picture him with a daughter of any sort.

"I didn't just screw up my life, man, I screwed up everybody's lives and apparently, everybody's lives in the future. It felt like, when these aliens got here, that finally something had happened I didn't cause, and maybe I could make up for everything I'd done to everybody but I…"

"I think we should be on the up and up with everybody. We got to tell 'em" said Jax.

"We're going up against a bunch of aliens, and you want to tell people that their lives might have been affected by time travel? One sci-fi problem at a time" said Oliver, "You made a mistake, Barry. It's part of the job. But we can't deal with it today."

Everybody needed to keep their head in the game. Telling them this would only fracture the team and they couldn't afford that before they faced their greatest threat to date. Oliver had the grit to look past his emotions for the moment and not allow the fact that Supergirl is the doppelganger of the love of his life to blind him and corrupt his commitment to the mission. Everybody else? Not so much. Oliver stepped out of the caravan, immediately seeing Ray being flung onto the floor next to Dig, Thea, Sara and Mick.

"She really is a badass", said Thea as she got up, holding her ribs.

Oliver grimaced. Seeing what she did to the rest of them, maybe telling Kara to not hold back wasn't the smartest idea. Nonetheless, he still hadn't seen for himself how 'super' she was.

"Let's go again!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure you want me to keep going?" asked Kara, as she littered the floor with the bodies of her fellow heroes once again.

"Yeah! Yes…" shouted Oliver, stumbling to his feet, "Just give us 5 minutes. Please". The other heroes didn't seem too keen to go again, and to be frank, neither was Oliver, but he was determined to best Kara at least once. Getting his ass handed to him by a Kara Danvers was something that was completely new to him, and it definitely wasn't something he was going to let pass.

He massaged his neck and stretched out his shoulders. Perhaps he was going to need more than 5 minutes. This version of Kara was insanely strong. And fast too. And durable. Nothing they did even made her flinch. She was for sure their greatest asset, but being Kara Danvers made it difficult for Oliver to accept that. He was snapped out of his own thoughts when he heard Cisco raise his voice. He glared over to where Cisco was standing and saw that he was holding the audio device with Future Barry's message. This wasn't going to be good…

"Tell us what?" he heard Sara shout.

"Jax and Professor Stein found a message from me in the future saying that, right now, I can't be trusted."

"And why would future you say that?" asked Sara

"I think because I went back in time and changed the timeline, and now things here are different than before I left including some of your lives."

"Some of our lives? Like who?" inquired Kara.

"Cisco, Caitlin, Wally, Dig."

"Me? Why? What happened?" asked Diggle.

"Hey" whispered Oliver. Perhaps this would be better if he heard from Oliver, "Apparently, you had a daughter."

"I had a daughter, Barry?"

"Baby John was Baby Sara."

"So, wait, let me get this straight. You just, uh... you just erased a daughter from my life?"

"Yeah."

"You can't go back and just change things like that, Barry" said Sara angrily.

"I know."

"You know how hard it is for me to not alter events? To bring my sister back? But I don't, because I know the implications."

"And all those aberrations we spent the last eight months traveling through time trying to correct you just decided that it was okay for you to create your own?" said Ray.

"We should've told 'em before" added Jax. The tension in the room was cut by the sounds of phones buzzing and pinging.

"Guys! Guys, its Lyla. The President's been abducted by the Dominators. She needs us now" said Felicity frantically.

"Okay, you guys go. All right? I'm going to sit this one out. Obviously, you have Supergirl. She's just as fast as I am. Get the President. We can talk about this later." If he didn't have the trust of the team, then he didn't deserve to be out there. He walked over to Kara, the only person besides Oliver who didn't seem shocked or furious at the revelation.

"You still trust me, right?" asked Barry.

"I'll always trust you, but it might take more to convince them" said Kara.

"If you need me, I'll be there" said Barry to Oliver, who seemed to ignore him and started speaking.

"Guys, this is… hey! This is crazy! Everyone is going, including Barry. I'm not going without him."

"Then you'll be here, Oliver" growled Diggle. Those words stung Barry more than they probably did Oliver. It took a lot for Diggle to turn against Oliver and not back his play. Barry being responsible for that just compounded to his guilt.

"Okay. You know what? Oliver, it's okay", interjected Kara, trying to break the tension, "I will go with them. We'll get the President. You stay here with Barry."

* * *

_**(19 October 2012)** _

_"I don't see how you went five years without potstickers. I couldn't have lasted a week" said Kara. Oliver was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch while Kara sat cross-legged comfortably on it. Following Thea's outburst at him not wanting to open up to anybody, he decided to go see Kara. He had pushed her and Laurel away almost immediately. They could not be drawn into his crusade, nor be hurt once again by Oliver, but he still needed someone to talk to. She needed a friend too at this time. Working on the Martin Somers case with Laurel was obviously stressing her and Oliver's presence seemed to help her relax._

_"I was fine without the potstickers" replied Oliver, briefly smirking at the recollection of his time in Hong Kong where he ate potstickers on more than one occasion, "What I missed was watching you stuff your face with them." Kara chuckled at Oliver's statement as she started to take note of his demeanour. Something was bothering him. Of course, being away from home for five years and now having to adjust to all the changes would be more than nerve-racking, but this was something else._

_"You seem a little off tonight" she said, "What's got Oliver Queen so spooked?"_

_"My mother wants me to join my father's company" replied Oliver._

_"She wants you to work at QC?"_

_"No… she wants me to lead it."_

_"Oh. No offense, but that really doesn't sound like your kind of gig."_

_"It isn't."_

_"So tell her no. You have no obligations to your fathers company."_

_"Oh, I tried. She didn't have any of it. She's hell-bent on making sure that I carry on my father's legacy."_

_"Do you want to carry on his legacy?"_

_"I want to create my own legacy. My father was a good man, but he wasn't perfect. He made mistakes. He hasn't left the legacy that my mom thinks he did. After five years away, I have plans. Plans that will forge my own legacy, while honouring his too. My mom doesn't understand that."_

_"Do it" replied Kara, "Don't let anyone put you in a box, Ollie. You can be whoever you want to be, and whoever that is… He's someone that I trust and believe in."_

_Oliver stared at her, appreciating who and what she was. After everything he had put her through, she still managed to not have a grudge against him. She still loved him, and that was what made her the most amazing person he'd ever known. She was optimistic, funny, hopeful. He didn't believe that there was a single thing on Earth that could dampen her spirits, nor corrupt her. She was pure and incorruptible, something that Oliver simply couldn't understand._

_"Why do you not hate me?" asked Oliver._

_"Why would you ask that?" asked Kara concernedly, before realising the answer to her own question, "Laurel."_

_"I saw her at the courthouse today. She took me to the sheds."_

_"Well, you did try push us away."_

_"That was to protect you. Both of you."_

_"Well, at least now you can realise that you just hurt us more by doing that. Do you remember her favourite ice cream?"_

_"Ferringtons."_

_"Yeah. Take a full tub of it to her when you want to talk to her. Perhaps it will ease the tension."_

_"Of course. Thank you, Kara."_

_"For what?"_

_"For always being there for me. Even after I've hurt you more times than I can count."_

_"I'll always be there for you, Ollie. I'm never going to leave your side."_

* * *

_**(29 November 2016)** _

The Time Vault? At this stage, Oliver was surprised that Cisco or Barry hadn't come up with another frivolous name for the Pipeline. Whatever 'The Time Vault' was, everything about it did seem very futuristic. The circular contours on the wall, the bright white lights, and the interface in front of him with a digital newspaper article projection. He was right about the team. The revelation of Barry's secret made them totally lose faith in him, and he and Kara seemed to be the only ones that still trusted Barry through all of this. He scanned the animated newspaper article before him until Barry started speaking.

"I didn't think about it, Oliver. I didn't think about the future. I was so focused on the past, I didn't think about it until now. I changed so much."

"What is this?"

"This is an article from the future. It's a story about me vanishing. Used to be written by Iris West-Allen. But now, I don't know. Something's, something's changed with Iris. Something's changed with our future. God, what did I do?"

"Barry, this is a weird-looking newspaper article. It doesn't mean anything. You need to stop beating yourself up over this."

"I'm sorry, but how can you say that? I'm responsible for all of this."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Barry, you made a choice. You wanted to see your parents alive again. Do you honestly know anyone that if they were in your shoes, wouldn't do the same exact thing? I would do the exact same thing. Barry, after the Gambit went down, it was me, my father, and a crewmember on a life raft. Lost at sea. Enough food and water for one person, maybe. My father took a gun, shot the crewmember, told me to survive, and then turned the gun on himself. He shot himself in the head. He sacrificed himself so that I could live. Nothing I could do. No choice. Slade Wilson drove a sword right through my mother's heart, in front of my sister and I. I was there, helpless on the ground. I was powerless to stop it. No choice. The night of The Undertaking, I made it to CNRI and my Kara wasn't gone yet. She was still alive. The only thing that I was able to do was to force a smile onto my face so that her last image would be of me smiling. Do you not think that I wouldn't give anything to go back and to make things different?"

"You never told me that."

"Barry, the world isn't different because you changed the timeline. Change happens. Tragedy happens. People make choices, and those choices affect everyone else. You're not a god, Barry."

All of a sudden, the building tremored and Cisco's voice blared over the intercom.

"Hey guys, wherever you are right now, we need you"

Barry quickly consulted the interface of the Time Vault and pulled up CCTV footage from outside Star Labs.

"Oh things just got so much worse."

* * *

_**(13 February 2013)** _

_"That was totally the greatest prank you ever pulled off" said Kara, as she couldn't contain her laughter at Oliver's retelling of how he and Tommy filled Malcolm's pool with beer. They were both sitting next to eachother on her couch in her apartment, with the two now empty pizza boxes lying in front of them._

_"I still don't know how Tommy decided that it was a good idea to actually swim in it" replied Oliver, laughing a little himself._

_"Oh I remember. He smelt like fish for two days after that. Oh, remember that helicopter stunt you tried to pull at the US Open?"_

_"My father lost a QC Acquisitions deal because he had to bail me out of jail."_

_"Doesn't make it any less hilarious for me."_

_"Hey, we can sit here all day and talk about me, but what about some of your not-so-finer moments, Danvers?" said Oliver playfully._

_"Oh no, we don't talk about mine."_

_"Uhm-hmm. That time at Tommy's house party that you got so drunk, you started throwing pennies into the water fountain and making random wishes?"_

_"That's not that bad."_

_"Kara, when you ran out of change, you threw your credit card into the fountain!"_

_"Come on, I did not do that!"_

_"Later that night, you challenged everybody to a knife-throwing competition."_

_"That, I remember. How exactly did I make it home again?"_

_"Tommy and I carried you out, and I drove you home. Needless to say, Mr Lance was less than happy to find me at his doorstep holding your passed out body."_

_"The fact that I was passed out or that it was you with me?"_

_"Probably me."_

_"How were you sober enough to drive me home anyway? I don't remember you ever leaving one of Tommy's parties not totally wasted."_

_"That was probably the only time ever..." Their laughter and giggles died down, leaving them just staring at each other appreciatively with wide smiles on their face._

_"Thank you for coming here, Ollie."_

_"You've been there for me for the past 4 months. The least I can do is be there for you too."_

_"Is that the only reason that you're here?" she asked. Oliver took a deep breath and sighed before answering her._

_"A few months ago, I told you that we couldn't be together. I thought that I couldn't be with you again because I'd just end up hurting you again. I wasn't ready then, and to be honest, I still don't think that I'm ready. But I'm willing to give a shot, if you would too."_

_She met his gaze, waiting for a second before shifting forward and placing her lips gently on his. They kissed for a few seconds, before she let go and smiled at him._

_"That's my answer" she said. Just as Oliver was about to pull her closer for another, his phone started to buzz, "Answer it, it's okay."_

_Oliver pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw the Caller ID – 'Diggle'. As soon as he answered, Diggle started talking._

_"Where are you?" asked Diggle._

_"I'm with Kara" replied Oliver._

_"Oh. Sorry for the interruption but the client that was supposed to meet you has pulled out of the deal. He's skipping town."_

_"I'm on my way" said Oliver regrettably. He turned to face Kara, apologetically looking at her, "Sorry. Something has come up at the club."_

_"Oh it's not a problem. Thank you for the amazing night" she replied, as they stood up and hugged. Oliver thanked her too before making his way to her door and exiting. Of course, everything was fine at Verdant, and Diggle's words were coded. That 'client' was Sachi Beech. A man whose name is on The List and is tied to human trafficking and extortion. Trying to skip town would be his last mistake._

_As much as Oliver wanted to stay with Kara, he couldn't, for tonight, he was going hunting._

* * *

Everyone was standing outside of Star Labs with the exception of Supergirl. Turns out that it was a good move to reveal the message to everybody. If everybody had gone and been mind-controlled, the results would've been disastrous. Barry had his fun racing Supergirl, but Oliver found fighting Dig, Thea and Sara to be way less pleasurable.

"So, what was it like being all mind-controlled and stuff?" asked Felicity to Rory, who was impolitely standing under the umbrella she was holding to shield himself from the light drizzle.

"I didn't realize he had a mind to be controlled" remarked Firestorm, drawing some chuckles.

"Barry, about before. Message or no message, we're with you" said Ray.

"Thank you."

"Where's Kara?" asked Thea.

"Scanning the city to make sure there aren't any more of the orbs that whammied all of you."

"Okay, so now what?" asked Diggle.

"We call Lyla. Tell her these Dominators aren't here peacefully" said Oliver. Everybody nodded in agreement before starting to walk back to the entrance. Suddenly, a bright yellow light flashed in front of Oliver, sweeping up Sara, "Sara!" Two more beams appeared, taking Diggle and Thea this time.

"Everybody inside! Go!" shouted Barry. Another beam took Ray, and Oliver realised he was next. Barry sped towards, trying to catch him before he disappeared, but he was too slow. He looked to the sky in despair as their most experienced ally was taken from them. This was bad… really bad.


	7. Chapter 7

Panting. Grunting. Oliver ran through the dense brush. His legs aching, his lungs burning, his hands pushing away the bushes and conifers in his path. He was almost out, almost at the edge, endorphins firing in his brain. Finally, he burst through the brush and finally laid eyes on his target…

The Queen Mansion.

Skipping past the groundskeepers, he ran all the way up to his room. There she was, still lying in bed, as beautiful as ever. Kara Danvers. Luckily, she was awake.

"Good morning" she said, as he entered.

"Morning" replied Oliver, walking over to her side.

"How was your morning run?" she asked, turning to face him.

"How about I tell you about it in the shower?" asked Oliver, kissing her forehead.

"Sounds good to me" she said, as she got up and walked to the bathroom with him.

Oliver got out of the shower first, wrapping the towel around his lower body before handing Kara a towel for herself. She came out with same glowing smile that she nearly always had, the one that made him like everything in the world was alright.

"Kara Danvers", said Oliver cherishingly as she walked towards him, "Will you marry me?"

"I think I already answered that question", she said, giggling as she lifted her left hand, displaying the diamond on her ring her. She sprung towards him as they kissed for several seconds, savouring every moment. "I'm going to get ready, my sisters should be here soon"

Oliver always found it cute that Kara referred to Laurel and Sara as her sisters. She was the only child and after her parents died when she was 16, Quentin offered to take her in and care for her since she had no other family. The Lances were the closest thing she had to siblings.

Oliver couldn't believe that he was marrying her in less than 48 hours. He didn't know why, but for the first time in a long time, he felt at peace.

* * *

"You didn't have to get me a gift, Speedy" said Oliver, as he and Thea sat together in one of the living rooms.

"It's just a little pre-rehearsal dinner gesture" she replied

"Well, little is right" remarked Oliver as he pulled out the… rock? The rock from the small gift box. He looked at it intensely. It seemed oddly familiar. Perhaps it just resembled something he saw at a gift shop a long time ago.

"It's called a Hozen. It symbolizes reconnecting like you did with Kara."

"Thea, it's a rock."

"It's a very thoughtful gesture from your amazingly loving sister."

"Thank you", said Oliver, feeling a little bad for not showing more appreciation towards her.

"Yeah. That's better."

"Well, what's going on here?" said Moira as she and Robert walked in.

"Thea gave me a rock" said Oliver as he stood up.

"Haha! Let's go, champ. You got a 6:00 appointment at the tailor's, got to fight traffic" said Robert.

"Oh, dad, you know I'm not much of a fighter."

"Tell that to the paparazzi you punched" remarked Thea mischievously.

"10 years ago" said Oliver, throwing his hands up in protest.

"Still."

"Might as well be a lifetime. You're practically a completely different person. You both are", said Moira proudly.

"Don't start crying again, mom. Just save all the tears for the actual wedding", said Thea.

"I think what your mother's trying to say is that both of us feel blessed to have watched the two of you grow up" said Robert, as a maid walked in with a tray full of tea cups. She slipped and a vase fell forward off the tray. In a matter of milliseconds, Oliver's hand reflexively whipped forward, catching the vase.

"Whoa! Sweet reflexes" said Thea.

_How the hell did I do that?,_ thought Oliver to himself.

* * *

Just as Oliver and Robert were exiting the front door, a black Rolls Royce pulled up in front of them, and despite the black-tinted windows making it impossible for him to see who was inside, Oliver still cracked a smile for he knew exactly who was inside the car.

"Oliver Queen" said the bearded man as he got out of the car.

"Tommy Merlyn" replied Oliver before embracing his long-time friend. Oliver always thought a full beard suited the now older, more mature Tommy, just as Oliver's tapered crew cut suited him now much more than the mop that he used to have in his playboy days. The door on the far side of the car opened and Oliver's smile grew even larger when he saw who stepped out.

"Hey Ollie" said Laurel as she then hugged Oliver.

"It's so great to see both of you" said Oliver.

"My best friend is getting married. I wouldn't miss this for the world" said Tommy cheerfully.

_'I wouldn't miss this for the world…'_

Suddenly, Oliver was feeling tremendously light-headed. Momentarily the strength of his legs left him as visions started flashing in front of his eyes.

_Oliver, Tommy, Moira, Walter Steele…_

_Another one… Tommy on a hospital bed… the sound of a heart rate monitor flatlining…_

"Ollie, are you okay?" said Laurel, snapping Oliver out of his vision.

But just as soon as he was snapped out, he was snapped back in.

_Laurel on a hospital bed too… A clock… 11:59_

Finally, he pulled himself back into reality and regained his composure.

"Is everything okay man?" asked Tommy as he concernedly put a hand on Oliver's shoulder.

"Uhh, yeah. I just… remembered something" said Oliver, forcing a smile, "Anyways, I've got a tailor appointment. I'll see you both later,"

Oliver pondered as he and Robert walked towards their car. What were those memory flashes? Visions? Dreams? Whatever they were, they felt extraordinarily real. He chalked them up to some bad dreams in his subconscious that he remembered upon seeing Tommy and Laurel. Or at least, that's what he was trying to convince himself.

* * *

"How much luggage did you bring? What, do you think you're moving in?" said Laurel sarcastically as she helped offload the multiple bags from the car.

"Oh, I wish!" said Sara, laughing as she ran and hugged Laurel.

"I miss you" said Laurel

"I miss you, too. This is beautiful" remarked Sara, spotting the pendant on Laurel's neck.

"Thanks. Tommy got it for me" replied Laurel.

"Is it a bird?"

"It's a canary."

_Canary…_

Sara jumped back from Laurel, startled. _Canary…_

"Sara?" said Laurel, concerned. Sara jumped back into Laurel's arms, embracing her even tighter than she did the first time.

"It's just that I missed you."


	8. Chapter 8

"The tux is a good look on you", remarked Robert, walking with his son in an alleyway.

"Never really felt like my thing" replied Oliver.

"Maybe you'd be more comfortable in a suit and tie."

"Dad, come on" said Oliver disappointingly, knowing what his father was about to ask him.

"I get sworn in as mayor in less than two months. I don't have time to find a replacement CEO for Queen Consolidated."

"What about, um, Walter Steele?"

"The board won't back him. Besides, QC is a family company. It should stay in the family."

"Dad, I want to make my own name. I don't just want to rely on yours."

"Oliver, if you don't do it, the board's going to push to accept Ray Palmer's buyout offer."

"I…" Oliver was about to speak, before something caught his eye. The building in front of them… Smoak Technologies?

"What?" asked Robert.

"I don't know" said Oliver, but he continued to study the building. Something about it felt odd. Like it was out of place, "Excuse me" said Oliver as a man bumped into him. Within a second, the man turned around, pointing a gun at Oliver and Robert.

"Excuse yourself. Watches, wallets, phones" said the man. Oliver and Robert didn't move, "What, are you deaf, trying to catch a bullet?"

"Take it easy" said Robert.

"I'll shoot your ass right here."

"Hey! Get away from him" said Oliver in a deep, growling voice while stepping in front of Robert. He didn't know what came over him but it felt natural.

"You want a piece of this?" said the man. Just as he finished his sentence, his gun was shot out of his hand by… an arrow? Suddenly a hooded figure jumped down from a rooftop, knocking the man down with one swift strike from his bow as he landed. He attached something to the man's leg and then shot an arrow, pulling the thug up and suspending him in the air before shooting another grappling arrow that he used to zip away.

"Are you all right?" asked Robert, concerned for his son.

"Uh, yeah, yeah" replied Oliver, nonchalantly.

"You could have been killed. Why would do a thing like that?"

* * *

"Wow. Mom is totally gonna freak out" said Thea, having just listened to the whole story from Robert and Oliver.

"That's probably why she doesn't need to know" said Robert.

"Yeah. She probably wouldn't believe the part about the guy in the hood anyway, so..." said Thea.

"Actually, your brother was the one who came to my rescue first. You're quite the hero, son."

_Hero…_

The word triggered his visions once again…

_Flailing in the ocean… It's dark… On a life raft… Yacht capsizing… Robert shooting himself in the head… Giving the hozen to Thea… Kissing Kara in the mansion…_

"Oh, my God!" Kara's voice snapped Oliver out of the flashes, "I heard what happened. Are you ok?" she said, rushing towards Oliver and hugging him tightly.

"Yeah. Hey, hey, hey. I'm fine, I'm fine" said Oliver reassuringly. He couldn't help but smile at how much she worried about him. Eventually, she separated from him. As soon as he looked at her, the flashes started again

_Kara… In a suit with an S on it…_

_Kara… A metal rod through her chest… Her eyes closing, her head slumping…_

"Oliver?" said Kara, concerned at how quickly the smile was wiped off Oliver's face, "Oliver, are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I'm… probably just need some air. I'm gonna… I'll see you at the restaurant" he said before quickly pacing off. Whatever these flashes were, they were too real, too visceral to be dreams. He needed to find out who the man in the hood was.

* * *

"Oh, hey! Captain Lance" called out Oliver he approached Quentin.

"Hey. I was just on my way out."

"Uh, do you have a minute for me?"

"Yeah, actually, I should have called you earlier. Detective Hilton told me about what happened tonight. You ok?"

"Oh, yeah. My dad and I are fine."

"Good, good. Well, we got the guy in custody" said Quentin, as he walked towards a pin board with had everything they had on the vigilante on it.

"Because of the guy with the bow and arrow?"

"Yeah, yeah. We've been calling him the Hood. Some kind of vigilante. Uh, if I've got the time right, your rehearsal dinner is practically now."

Oliver ignored Quentin, intensely studying the board in front of him, his eyes catching the sketch of a man in a hood. Another trigger for the flashes…

_Quentin holding the sketch up to Oliver… Looking in the mirror… His body covered with scars… Queen Industrial Inc. factory… Picking up a bow… Quentin pointing a gun at him… Him in the hood…_

"Oliver?" said Quentin

"Do you have any leads on who The Hood might be?" asked Oliver.

"This is the last thing you should be thinking about the night before your wedding… or is that what's going on here?"

"What do you mean?"

"You getting cold feet?"

"No, not at all, I promise" said Oliver dismissively with a smile.

"Good because I would hate to have to shoot you for breaking Kara's heart, right? The paperwork would be hell" replied Quentin jokingly.

"In truth, I'm probably a little bit more shaken up by the whole mugging than maybe I thought."

"Well, you know, I got just the thing to fix that. A few drinks at your rehearsal dinner. I'm buying. Come on"

"Yeah, actually. Uh, Captain Lance, I'll meet you there."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll see you there" said Oliver as he began to walk away. No ways he was going to his rehearsal dinner, at least not yet. He had a feeling he knew where the vigilante was, and he needed to know who the man under the hood was.

"Actually, uh, Oliver" said Quentin, calling Oliver back, "Something I want to say. You know, um, when you were a kid, you know, a teenager, I-well, let's face it. I didn't like you much. I thought you were a rich, entitled punk."

"I was."

"You know, when Kara's parents passed and I took her in, I started to love her like my own daughter. You know how I was back then, I was more than disapproving of you two being together, but since then, Oliver, you have grown into a hell of a man, the kind of guy I'm proud to have as my son-in-law.

"Thank you, Captain Lance."

"All right. See you at that dinner."

"I'll see you there."

"All right."

The dinner, of course. First, he had something more important to do…

* * *

Back at the Queen Mansion, Kara, Laurel and Sara were all sitting together on Kara's bed, having drinks and enjoying each other's company.

"I can't believe your big day is almost here" said Laurel as she took a sip from her glass.

"Yeah, me too" replied Kara, "You know, I thought everything was going to feel the same. I mean, Oliver and I are basically already married, but I must admit, it does feel a little different, and exciting."

"Any idea on where the honeymoon will be?" asked Sara.

"Still no, Oliver wants to surprise me, but I have a slight suspicion we're going to The Maldives."

"Oh, I've always wanted to go to The Maldives" said Laurel.

"Well, why don't you and Tommy tie the knot and then you can go there for honeymoon?" remarked Sara.

"You're one to talk, why don't you find someone to settle down with?" said Laurel.

"Yeah, what about that girl we met? Alex?" asked Kara.

"Oh, that was more of a… friends with benefits type of vibe."

"Oh, well, whatever floats your boat" replied Kara uncritically.

"Hey, I just think it's probably not in my destiny to settle down with someone and live a 'normal' life, at least not anytime soon" replied Sara.

"I'm not sure if that's true, Sara" replied Laurel, "I believe we can choose our fates. Our destinies are just the sum of our choices."

_Destiny is nothing more than the sum of our choices… Words said by Rip Hunter… Captain of the Waverider… The Legends…_

"Sara… Sara?!" Kara's call for her name helped drag Sara out of the visions. Before Kara or Laurel could ask, Sara insisted she was fine. However, she admitted to herself that the visceral nature of the visions disturbed her slightly. Whatever it was, she tried to shake it off and forget about it. Tonight was about having fun and spending time with Kara and Laurel. Worrying about these visions wasn't going to help her do that. She wiped the sweat that had started to form by her forehead off and downed her glass, before forcing a smile on her face and pretending that everything was alright.


	9. Chapter 9

Oliver practically ran up the stairs in the Queen Mansion. He needed to see Kara, now. The encounter with John Diggle and Felicity Smoak in the lair and the visions that accompanied it were unnerving him. These visions were of another life that he led and he wanted no part of it. All of the pain and suffering in that life, how did he even survive it? He did his best to avoid any of the guests while he navigated through the mansion. He didn't even want to see Tommy. All he saw when he thought of Tommy now was his motionless body being jolted by a defibrillator.

"Kara, I…" he burst through the door to her room. She was in her bridal gown and Sara was adjusting her hair.

"Don't you know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" said Sara disapprovingly.

"Or skip out on the rehearsal dinner" added Kara.

"I know, I said I was sorry"

"In a text" said Sara disapprovingly.

"Sara, can you give us a few minutes, please?" asked Oliver politely.

"You're lucky I'm not a trained assassin or anything" quipped Sara as she walked past Oliver.

_Trained assassin…_

In the visions, that's exactly what Sara was. Oliver tried to shove Sara's strangely coincidental choice of words into the back of his mind, closing the door and turning to Kara, finally getting a good look at her in her wedding gown. He didn't think she'd ever looked more beautiful. All of her hair being draped to her right suited her, and her sparkling blue eyes were brought out even more by her makeup.

"Oh, wow. You, um… you look beautiful" said Oliver.

"I called you over 20 times last night" said Kara worryingly as she turned to face Oliver.

"I can't explain last night. I just… Today… Today, I want to marry you."

"Well, that's good because there are guests here."

"No, not with guests, not in a few hours. Now. Kara, I need to… I need to get out of here. We can elope…"

"Oliver…"

"I'm being serious. I don't know what's going on with me right now. I just know that I want to be with you as quickly as humanly possible." Oliver felt like he was going to lose her. Sooner or later she'd be taken from him and he couldn't allow that to happen.

"What is going on with you?" asked Kara.

"Last night, somebody reminded me that I have everything, and I don't want to give it up. I'm afraid that I'm going to give it up."

"Well, that's very sweet of you" replied Kara, taking his hands in hers, "But we have over 200 guests coming, and your parents, they've spent a fortune on this wedding."

"I know, and I'm… I'm sorry if this is confusing or if I'm scaring you, but the only thing in the world that makes sense to me right now… is that I love you…And I'm going to take that job at Queen Consolidated, and I swear to God, I'm going to work every single day to be the man you fell in love with."

She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. She replied with that warm smile of hers, the one that Oliver could never forget, the one that he'd see every time he'd close his eyes. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Oliver said come in, and the person entered. John Diggle?

"Sorry about the interruption. The Russian lady downstairs told me to come right up. You got a minute to talk?"

* * *

After Sara and Diggle helped him dispatch of Deathstroke, the pieces of Oliver's real life started to come together as the visions began to link and make sense. He was trapped in a simulation of what his life would've been if he had never gotten on the Queen's Gambit. For whatever reason, the Dominators trapped them here, and they needed to get out. Ray Palmer and Thea were the other two trapped here. Sara was going to speak to Ray and he was going to speak to Thea.

He walked into the reception area and spotted Thea talking to Tommy and Malcolm. He tried to walk over to her but he was intercepted by his parents.

"Son, don't you think you should be getting your tuxedo on?" said Robert.

"Are you all right, Oliver?" asked Moira.

"I just need to speak with Thea", replied Oliver.

"I think I saw her talking to Malcolm over by the ice sculpture" said Robert. Oliver tried to walk past him to Thea, but Robert stopped him from passing, "Son, I think you need to calm down."

"You're acting terribly strange" said Moira.

"Your mother and I are concerned that if you keep up this unstable behaviour that is not going to finish well."

That is not going to finish well.

"I'm just saying", continued Robert, "Kara, the company. This is your life now."

"No, it isn't" said Oliver, as he embraced his mother, trying not to shed any tears, "I'm so… I'm sorry", he said, hugging his father before letting go and walking towards Thea.

"She knows, Ollie. She knows, and she doesn't want to go" said Sara as Oliver approached Thea.

"The better question is why would you want to?" asked Thea.

"Because none of this is real" replied Sara.

"It's real enough, ok? It's… it's better than our real lives. In this life, Laurel is alive, Kara is alive, my parents are alive."

"But those are not your parents."

"They remember the only lullaby that would actually work to put me to sleep. They remember every day of my life, ok? They even smell like them, Ollie"

"They're not them, Thea. I want them to be, but they're not", replied Oliver, "Where are John and Ray?" he asked Sara.

"They're waiting outside"

"Give us a few minutes" requested Oliver to Sara.

* * *

"Give us a few minutes."

Sara acknowledged Oliver's request and started to head for the exit. Just as she was about to leave, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around, and saw Laurel in her bridesmaid dress.

"Sara, where are you going? Shouldn't you be getting ready?" asked Laurel.

"Laurel, I… I can't explain, but I have to go"

"No, you can't leave now. Whatever it is, I'm sure we can fix it another time."

"I… I can't" replied Sara, hugging Laurel tightly before exiting. As she exited the door, she ignored Laurel's pleas for her to stay, as she simply dropped her head and allowed the tears to flow while she walked to meet with John and Ray.

* * *

"I want you to be well, I want you to be happy. I love you, Thea" said Oliver before letting go of Thea after their embrace. He understood why she couldn't leave. At the age of 21, she'd lose almost everyone in her life. Her parents, Roy, the women whom were basically her sisters. Oliver may have learnt to live with loss, but Thea hadn't. He headed for the exit, but was confronted by Tommy and Laurel.

"Oliver" said Tommy, "Sara left for some reason, I'm going to go get her"

"No, no, there's no need" interjected Oliver.

"Why?" asked Laurel.

"I'm going too"

"What?" said Tommy, shocked, "You can't Oliver, the ceremony is soon, Kara is…"

"Tommy" interrupted Oliver, "I wish I could explain, I really wish I could. But there's something we have to do. I'm really sorry" he said, before hugging both Laurel and Tommy, "Thank you both, for everything."

* * *

Oliver didn't plan on saying goodbye to his parents or Tommy and Laurel. Of course, they weren't real, but Thea was right. They felt and smelt just like how their real counterparts did. They were real. They were just part of this simulation created by the Dominators. The fact that this fake world would simply painlessly cease to exist once they escaped was slightly comforting towards Oliver, but it still didn't help to lessen the burden of having to say goodbye to Tommy and Laurel again. Once again, he tried to toss his emotions aside and focus on the task at hand. He just met up with the others in the garden of the Queen's Mansion.

"Where's Thea?" asked Diggle.

"Thea's staying" replied Oliver, "Have you explained to Ray what we have to do?

"Yeah. Apparently, we have to get to an office tower that my non-fiancé doesn't own, which is a little strange. All that coming from a guy who's been having memories that he's able to shrink."

"Well, whatever we're doing, we have to do it fast because whatever the Dominators have done to us, they would have built in safeguards. They're probably manifestations from our memories designed to keep us here."

Just as Oliver finished his sentence, he felt a sharp, piercing pain just below his left shoulder that pushed him a meter back. He looked to the source of the pain, recognising the shaft of an arrow. He pulled the arrow out of his skin and mentally calculated its trajectory to find out where it had been shot from. Right in front of him…

Malcom Merlyn… Slade Wilson… Damien Darhk… H.I.V.E agents… Mirakuru Soldiers.

"They're not real" said Oliver.

"They certainly look real. Let's not get into that right now" said Thea as she walked to beside Oliver.

"Speedy?"

"Yeah. I had a change of heart, ok? Like I said, I can't lose my family again."

They each squared up their adversaries.

Thea on Merlyn… Oliver on Deathstroke… Sara on Darhk… Diggle on H.I.V.E… Ray on the Mirakuru solders…

The fight began…

Thea blocking Merlyn's strike, Oliver evading Deathstroke's blade.

Ducking under Deathstroke's sword, Oliver dug into Deathstroke's body with a right hook, kicking Deathstroke's legs from under him and pushing him away with a front kick. Deathstroke rolled with the kick, jumping back to his feet and trying to decapitate Oliver once more. Oliver anticipated the swing of the blade again, ducking under and tossing Deathstroke with an arm drag.

Ray, trying his best to fight the Mirakuru soldiers without his A.T.O.M. suit, bobbed and weaved many of their strikes, but was unable to escape their grip as he is grabbed and tossed through the air by one of them. Diggle swiftly drew his gun and fired several shots into the Mirakuru soldier and a H.I.V.E. agent. The sound of movement behind him caused him to whip around. Unable to get out of the way, he and the H.I.V.E. agent simultaneously fired several bullets into eachother. Ray having been kicked away by the remaining Mirakuru soldier, landed near the deceased H.I.V.E. agent, picking up the gun right next to him, using it to shoot the Mirakuru soldier several times.

Thea's superior speed and agility allowed her to evade many of Merlyn's strikes, and made use of her jiu-jitsu to injure Merlyn with an armbar. Injured and outclassed, Merlyn is stabbed with his own sword when the fight returns to the feet. Thea, spotting Merlyn's bow, rips it from his hands, swiftly removing an arrow from his quiver and firing it in front of Sara for her to catch. Sara caught it easily and stabbed Darhk in the stomach, just like how he did with Laurel.

Oliver, how holding Deathstroke in place with a left overhook in a clinch, throws several dehabilitating knees to Deathstroke's abdomen before tossing him in front of the fountain.

"Ollie!" called out Thea, before throwing Merlyn's bow to Oliver.

Oliver caught the bow with his left hand, swiftly nocking the arrow, steadying his sights and firing the arrow at his target… Deathstroke's eye.

As quickly as they had appeared, they had all disappeared. The soldiers, the agents, the bow in his hand. Gone as if they had vanished into thin air.

"Ollie!"

He heard Kara's cries coming from the patio, rushing over to her. She had started crying, the tears in her eyes glistening with the moonlight.

"Ollie, what's going on? Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Kara. The person you fell in love with, that's not me, and I never deserved that love. You always deserved better". Fighting the urge to shed tears of his own, he pulled her head close and kissed her forehead, "I love you"

"I love you. Don't go, please!" she pleaded with him as Oliver let go of her and walked away. He turned to take one last look at his bride. Perhaps in another life, he would've gotten to marry her and spend the rest of his life with her, but it was not meant to be in this life.

* * *

"Ok, John. What now?" asked Oliver as the 5 of them entered the Smoak Tech building.

"Guys, I don't think that belongs there" said Ray, pointing to the green portal on their left, "Ok. That's either the way out of here, or we got to click our heels together 3 times and say, there's no place like home."

"And if that doesn't work?" asked Sara.

"It has to work. Dig's running out of time" replied Oliver as they all started to head for the portal.

_You're never without me, my beautiful boy._

Oliver heard his mother's voice just before he entered the portal. He turned around, and there stood everyone who was a part of or had influenced his crusade.

_His mother… There's nothing else to say except I could not be more proud of you. Become someone else. Become something else._

_Felicity… You honour the dead by fighting, and you are not done fighting!_

_Tommy… I know I called you a murderer, but you are not. You are a hero._

_Roy… You saved my life. You gave me purpose. This time, we had to save you._

_Laurel… I know who you are in your bones, Oliver, and that person doesn't give up!_

_Kara… Never lose that smile Ollie, it's what I love most about you._

_His father… This is your responsibility now._


	10. Chapter 10

"I can't believe that you guys escaped an alien spaceship. Key words: alien spaceship. I have questions" said Cisco, unable to contain his excitement as Oliver, Ray, Sara, Dig and Nate returned to the hall.

"They can wait" replied Oliver, before turning to Nate and thanking him for taking Thea back to Star City. The dream sequence that the Dominators had placed them in had really messed with her psyche. Oliver had the fortitude to continue with the mission, but it was best for Thea to go home, "What's our status?" he asked Barry.

"Nothing since the Dominators paid their little visit to mess with our heads" replied Barry.

"Why would they do that?" asked Nate.

"What if they were trying to pit us against each other in order to gain Intel about meta-humans?" suggested Ray.

"Well, metas pose the biggest threat to their invasion. It would make sense they'd want to get to know their enemies" said Kara.

"By kidnapping people. Perhaps they were searching your minds for potential meta-human vulnerabilities" said Dr Stein.

"I think it's time we return the favour" said Oliver.

"What do you want to do? Kidnap one of them now?" asked Diggle.

"Ever since we fought off that one ship, they've kind of been in short supply" said Barry.

"Actually, I know where to find one" said Nate, before walking over to the computer screen and starting to search for video footage, "I've been reviewing old Army footage of their first encounters with the Dominators, and I think I pegged the fight to… Redmond, Oregon. 1951."

"You're suggesting we travel to 1951, abduct a Dominator, and interrogate it to determine their intentions?" asked Dr Stein.

"They kidnapped us. Seems fair" said Sara.

"Time travel. I'm definitely in" said Cisco excitedly.

"Okay, hold on, though. Professor Stein and Caitlin have been talking about a way to take down the Dominators. They could probably use your help" said Barry to Cisco.

"Pass", replied Cisco nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm with him, mostly because I just don't want to lose my geek cred, but time travel!" said Felicity, squealing with excitement.

"I could take Amaya and Mick" suggested Nate.

"Do it" replied Oliver.

"And, uh, the new president called, which would be cool under different circumstances but she wants to meet with us" said Barry.

"Let's bring Ray and Sara as backup" said Oliver.

"What about me? I can do backup" said Kara enthusiastically.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Oliver requested to Kara as he turned and walked several meters away. Kara, confused by Oliver's request, turned to Barry who simply shook his shoulders. However, Kara noticed the look of dread on Sara and Diggle's faces. They definitely knew what this was about, as they preferred to not make eye contact with Kara when they walked past her.

"I would like to minimize your involvement in this" said Oliver.

"Why? Because I'm an alien? I also happen to be your biggest weapon"

"You are an unknown quantity, and this is not personal" said Oliver, lying through his teeth.

"Except that's exactly how this feels."

"Kara, when I started living this life, it was just me. I was going up against human threats that I could handle. Then it was meta-humans, and I can handle that. Now I learn that there are multiple Earths, and that I was brainwashed aboard an alien spacecraft."

"I am sure that was unnerving but…" Kara was interrupted by Oliver.

"I don't get unnerved" he said, with that now familiar scowl of his, "When I go up against something new, I push back. Right or wrong, it is who I am, and it is what I do, so I am asking for a little bit of space because I have to draw the line somewhere. I need to claw back a sense of normalcy. Please stay here"

Oliver walked a couple of steps past her, but she wasn't letting him go anywhere. She grabbed his arm, causing him to whip around and look her dead in the eyes.

"Why don't you just cut the crap and tell me what's really going on" said Kara sternly.

"I just told you!" replied Oliver angrily.

"No, you didn't! From the moment I arrived, you have had it out for me. The second I stepped through that breach, I noticed you and your sister's reaction, and you guys have acted weird around me ever since. Tell me what's going on Oliver!"

"I don't owe you an explanation! You're not accomplishing anything by making this more difficult than it has to be. Just stay here!"

Kara had the power and speed to snap Oliver's neck without him knowing, but she was frozen in place by the tone in his voice and the scowl on his face. Sure, she'd stay, but she was going to find out what he was hiding, sooner or later.

* * *

_**(2 March 2013)** _

_Oliver sped through the road on his motorbike, overtaking cars and weaving in between them when the traffic was dense. The night before, he had tried to cross Palmer Cokes' name off The List. He failed. Now, he was racing to an abandoned warehouse where Cokes was keeping Kara hostage in an attempt to draw him out. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid. He'd already put Laurel in danger twice, and now the fact that Kara had been kidnapped was truly about to drive him over the edge._

_He drifted sharply into the driveway leading to the small warehouse. He quickly hopped off his motorcycle and removed his helmet as he reached the door, kicking it open and swiftly nocking an arrow, ready to fire it. His eyes immediately scanned the entire area in front of him. No sign of Cokes, but Kara was in a chair towards the centre of the warehouse with her hands tied behind her back. He let the bow string relax and withdrew a flechette before raising his hand in a reassuring way._

_"I'm not here to hurt you. I'm going to cut you loose" said Oliver, taking several steps towards her._

_"Oh I wouldn't try do that if I were you", a voice with a slight Kentucky accent echoed out from the back of the hall._

_Oliver immediately recognised the voice, dropping the flechette and pulling back his bow string once more. Slowly, Palmer Cokes stepped out from the shadows, the smirk on his face becoming clearer and clearer as did the gun in his hand pointed at Kara's head._

_"Take one more step towards her, and you'll be sweeping her brains off this floor" said Cokes, "You know, I figured out pretty quickly how to draw you out. You've been working with this little reporter and that attorney. What's her name again? Laurel Lance. I knew I'd only need to get one of 'em to get your attention. This one was the easier prey."_

_"She has nothing to do with this! Let her go!" growled Oliver._

_"I didn't say I wasn't going to. I'm a reasonable man. You only need to do one thing to ensure her safety."_

_"What?!"_

_"Take off that green hood of yours. It's not often that I come across someone with a set of skills to rival my own. I want to meet the man behind the hood."_

_Oliver didn't move. He kept his bow drawn and his target firmly on Cokes' chest, who was now standing right behind Kara, still pointing the gun at her head._

_"Or do you want me to shoot her in the head?" said Cokes sarcastically._

_"No!" screamed Oliver as he relaxed the bowstring, placing the arrow back in his quiver and lifting his hands up._

_"Bow on the floor, now!"_

_Oliver carefully knelt down, placing the bow by his right foot and standing back up. He took a deep breath before raising his hands towards his head. He never ever planned on telling Kara his secret, but choosing between his secret and her life was a no-brainer for him. Her life was in the balance here, he didn't have a choice. His fingers brushed against the corners of the hood before he slowly turned it back, removing it from his head and revealing his face. The look on Kara's face changed from fear to shock in an instant._

_"Ol…Oliver?" she said, the words stuttering out of her mouth._

_"Oh my, oh my. Playboy Oliver Queen is the vigilante trying to save the city. I must say, that island must have been one hell of a place to turn you into this."_

_"You have what you want, Cokes. Let her go."_

_"I'm a man of my word" he said, drawing a knife from his back pocket. Oliver flinched as he withdrew it, fearing that he was going to do something else with it for a second. He slashed the restraints on Kara's hand, who immediately jumped to her feet and ran towards the exit._

_"You know, it's a shame that she gets to live… because she's now going to have to live the rest of her life without you!" said Palmer who raised his gun towards Oliver. Oliver, prepared for that, had already clasped a flechette and threw it towards Cokes' hand. Cokes' groaned in pain as the flechette penetrated the extensor tendons on his right hand, preventing him from curling his right index finger over the trigger. Oliver snapped his foot up, flinging his bow up into his hands. He drew an arrow just as Cokes flung the pistol into his left hand, with Oliver firing milliseconds before Cokes pulled the trigger. The arrow knocked the gun out of Cokes' hand, but he had managed to pull the trigger once, with the bullet winging Oliver in the shoulder._

_They both sprinted towards each other, with Oliver throwing the first strike. Cokes ducked under Oliver's swing of his bow, striking Oliver with the palm of his right hand before launching a knee at Oliver's midsection. Oliver blocked the knee with his forearms, dropping his bow on the floor before grabbing Cokes' head and bashing it several times with elbows. Muay Thai, one of the first martial arts he had been taught._

_Cokes' freed himself from Oliver's grip by throwing an uppercut right into Oliver's diaphragm, winding him. He spun around and tossed Oliver onto the floor with a judo throw, trying to stomp Oliver's head when he was on the ground. Oliver rolled out of the way and sprung back to his feet. They sized eachother up before engaging once again. They threw various techniques at one another for several seconds. Switch kicks, spinning attacks, each one of Oliver's being more effective than his opponent. Oliver felt like he was gaining the upper hand as he managed to duck under a punch and spin around to Cokes' back._

_Oliver attempted to wrap his arms around Cokes' neck, but his forearms were not on the' throat. He couldn't finish the choke, but he squeezed nonetheless, cranking the jaw back. Suddenly, he saw movement several meters in front of him. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a closer look at who it was. His eyes flared up when he identified the person._

_"Kara? What the hell are you doing here? Get out of here!" screamed Oliver._

_"I'm not leaving you behind Ollie!" she screamed back. Cokes' took advantage of the momentary distraction, ramming his fist into the shoulder of Oliver's that had been grazed by the bullet. The pain caused Oliver to let go of the hold, and he was quickly hit right in the gut by a spin kick, winding Oliver once again and forcing him down to one knee._

_"You came back here to see him die" said Cokes towards Kara, "At least now, you'll be able to join him in the afterlife." He drew the same knife he used to cut her ropes, and readied himself to hurl it at her. He was about to fling it, before he felt a tug at his leg, forcing him off balance. The knife still left his hand, and it felt like slow-motion for Oliver as he watched it travel towards Kara._

_It flew past the right side of her side, missing her by centimeters. Oliver, although slightly relieved by her survival, felt the same rage that possessed him at Iron Heights to boil up inside of him again. All of the pain had become mute as tackled Cokes to the ground, mounting him before throwing several concrete-breaking strikes at his head. Another, then another, then another._

_"Ollie… Ollie!"_

_He was only snapped out of his rage upon hearing Kara screaming his name at the top of her lungs. He stopped himself from throwing another blow and looked towards her. A look of horror on her face. He looked back at Cokes, whose face was bruised and bleeding from every orifice, beaten beyond recognition. He could do nothing as he simply felt ashamed of what he'd done before her, feeling tremendously sorrowful as he observed the tears starting to form in her eyes. The police sirens started to become audible, and Oliver stood up, collecting his bow before walking towards the exit._

* * *

Sara stood by her gear bag in the hall, checking her staff and making sure that it was not faulty in anyway. She spun it around in her hand several times, making sure it was perfectly balanced. She'd overheard the latter part of Oliver's conversation with Kara, and she couldn't help but feel bad for both of them. Oliver was unable to cope with the embodiment of his failure and Kara not allowed to understand why. It would be best for all parties involved if this was resolved before things got ugly.

"Sara!" she heard someone call out her name, and turned to see Kara working towards her.

"Let me guess, you want to know why Oliver is alienating you?" asked Sara. She was confused for a second when Kara cracked a smile, but she immediately realised what she had just said, "No pun intended."

"Right" replied Kara, "Look, I noticed your reaction also when I first met you. I know you at least have some idea of why Oliver is acting the way he is. I know he is usually grumpy but I know something's up. Please tell me."

"Kara, what's happening with Oliver isn't something that… It's not exactly my position to tell you. The Dominators got inside our head, figuratively and literally. Oliver will come around to you, trust me, but it will happen on his own accord. Trying to push him to won't do you any favours."

"What about you?"

"Like I said, you look like someone I used to know."

* * *

"Barry, you cannot do this!" said Oliver irately. Ever since Agent Smith told Barry about the deal with the Dominators, Barry was sure that sacrificing himself to the Dominators was the right and only move.

"Oliver, you have almost sacrificed yourself countless times before. How is thing any different?"

"Because I didn't have a choice, Barry. You do. I was prepared to die because that was the only option I had, but we don't only have one option."

"Oliver, with all due respect, we're talking about aliens. I know you've fought against Mirakuru soldiers and Damien Darhk but this is a whole different ball-game. I would rather give myself in knowing that everybody I love is safe, than seeing you and everybody else get killed."

"Barry, do you really think they're going to be content with just you? You really think that they're not going to come back and exterminate other metas just because they have you."

"I'm sorry, Oliver. This isn't up for debate" said Barry before walking away from Oliver. Oliver sighed heavily, pinching his brow. Trying to convince Barry not to be the hero for once was difficult. He was way too prepared to give in.

"Any luck with Barry?"

Oliver heard the voice echo from behind him. It was Diggle.

"He's stubborn" replied Oliver.

"At least you know how I feel talking to you sometimes" quipped Diggle, walking closer to Oliver. Oliver cracked a half-smile before looking at Dig and recognising the all too familiar posture and facial expression, "I've seen that look on your face before, John."

"Yeah, right before I'm about to give you a lecture or tell you how full of crap you are"

"Right. Which one is it?"

"You know, Kara went to Sara and asked why you were behaving the way you were around her."

"Did she tell her anything?"

"Nope. Sara and I both agreed that it was best that she heard it from you." Oliver let out a deep breath before replying to Dig.

"Diggle, I can't tell her that she looks like the woman I loved. It's not just that she looks like her. She smiles like her, laughs like her. I have to stay focused on the mission."

"Oliver, I get that. Totally. Look, I know the Dominators screwed with your head man, but getting on the wrong side of her before this fight is ill-advised. When she came here, she respected you more than anyone else here, but she is slowly losing that respect. Make things right with her Oliver, quickly."


	11. Chapter 11

_**(3 March 2013)** _

_Oliver stood in front of apartment 4A, knocking politely on the door. He needed to make sure Kara was okay after everything that had transpired today. She had given her statement and Quentin had organised for a squad car to be stationed outside her apartment. He was angry at himself for losing control in front of her. He was fully preparing himself for the possibility that she would want nothing to do with him. She opened the door a few seconds later, smiling at him. She had just showered. Her hair was still wet and she stood before him in her shower robe, still holding a towel. He raised his hand apologetically and apprehended himself._

_"I'm sorry" said Oliver remorsefully, "I should've called."_

_"No, it's okay. Come on in" replied Kara._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Yeah, yeah" she replied, as she grabbed his arm and tugged at him to come in. He took several steps into her apartment while she closed the door, relieved that she didn't seem to be angry with him._

_"Are you okay?" asked Oliver as she walked towards him._

_"Yeah, I'm obviously a little shaken up, but I'm fine."_

_"I'm really, really sorry Kara, I thought he was about to kill you and I lost control…" Before he could continue, she interrupted him._

_"Oliver, it's okay. Really. I'm not going to say that seeing you almost murder someone in front of me wasn't frightening, or traumatising, but I can at least understand why you did it."_

_"Still, Kara. I have lied to you for months, and now, I've put you in danger."_

_"Oliver, for every lie you've told to go out there, you have saved countless more lives."_

_"That's no excuse for hurting the people closest to you."_

_"No, but when you believe in what you do, you find a way to make it work."_

_"How?"_

_"Well, the first thing you do is you find yourself someone you never have to apologize to" she said, smiling once again._

_She took his hands in hers as he confirmed to himself what neither of them had to say. He had already found her. They both realised what was about to happen in this moment. When Oliver returned from the island, both of them knew that neither were the same person that they were five years prior, but their love for each other was as deep as ever. Neither resisted the electricity that pulled them together as they kissed._

_When they kissed at Oliver's party five months ago, neither were ready. Diggle had told Oliver that he'd be ready when he met the right person. He was wrong, because he'd already met her, and he wasn't ready for her then, but he was ready now. They both were. They continued to kiss, savouring every moment while she pushed him to her bedroom, where he laid her down on the bed, and they both finally accepted their love for each other._

* * *

Oliver sat by himself near his gear bag in the hall, contemplating Diggle's words. He'd taken those words to heart. Yes, getting on the wrong side of a woman that could snap you in half before he could even think about nocking an arrow to fire at her is foolish. He didn't lie when he said he didn't get unnerved, but the Dominators did get inside his head, literally and figuratively. Still, he had to do the right thing.

He recollected the events of the night that E1 Kara found out he was The Hood, taking solace in her reaction. He beat Palmer Cokes to death in front of her, yet her love for him still didn't waiver. She only loved him more for the sacrifices he was making to try save the city. From what he'd seen of Earth-38 Kara Danvers, she was the same. She saw the best in people. He just hoped that he hadn't pushed her too far away, but a part of him thought that was impossible given the person she was.

He got up and walked around the van he was sitting behind, scanning the area for Kara. He spotted her standing by the screens, talking to Amaya.

"Kara!" he called out. She turned her head and the smile on her face immediately disappeared once she saw that it was Oliver, "Can I speak with you please?"

She smiled at Amaya and turned to walk over to Oliver. She death-stared him as she walked towards him, still absolutely livid over Oliver's treatment of her.

"I owe you an apology" started Oliver, "I know that I've been very harsh and cold around you. Keeping you at arm's length was the wrong move. I know my words may not mean much, so if you'd allow me, let me show you why I did that".

Kara nodded, and Oliver gestured with his head to follow him. They walked back to behind the van where Oliver kept his gear bag. He unzipped a small side compartment of the bag and pulled out a small, worn-out picture before handing it over to Kara. It took her less than a second to recognise the person on it, gasping in shock. A young woman, no older than 28. Blonde hair, a wide, radiant smile.

Herself?

"Wh… who is this?" she asked.

"That… is the Kara Danvers of this universe. She was my best friend… The woman I loved… She died three and a half years ago. She sacrificed herself to save my sister's life. That's why Thea was so happy to see you. What the Dominators did to us was that they put us all in a… shared dream where we were each living our perfect lives. Me and her were about to get married, but I had to leave her to escape the dream."

Kara was at a loss for words. She never could've imagined what it was like for Oliver to see her and be forced to pretend to have not had any connection with her at all. Immediately she felt guilty for being angry at him.

"I… I'm so sorry for…" Her apology was interrupted by Oliver.

"No, no, it's fine. You don't have to apologise. You and her are so alike. You're both hopeful, optimistic, so willing to help people. The only difference is that you are an invulnerable alien. When I see you with all of these powers, it reminds me of her vulnerability, and of my failure to save her. That's why I've been trying to keep my distance from you. I don't expect your forgiveness, but I'm asking for at least your understanding."

Kara looked into the deep blue eyes of Oliver Queen. His eyes told the story of all the pain and loss that he has experienced. Her mother once told her that the eyes are a gateway to a person's soul, and she could see that Oliver Queen's soul had had to endure far more than anyone should ever have to go through.

"You don't just have my forgiveness, or my understanding, Oliver. You have my friendship."

"Thank you" replied Oliver, smiling at her. Kara only realised now that this was the first time Oliver had smiled since she'd met him. He had such a beautiful smile, one that she wished she'd seen before.

"Oliver." Oliver and Kara both turned to see Diggle walking around the corner, "Sorry to interrupt, but Barry's calling a team meeting" said Diggle, before turning back. Oliver and Kara glanced at each other, each both knowing exactly what Barry was going to tell them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the final chapter folks!

Quentin Lance was sitting at his desk in City Hall, ravaging through a stack of documents, looking for paperwork regarding pipeline maintenance. While it wasn't that Oliver dumped a lot of the duties of the Mayor on him, Quentin was just much better versed in the world of politics and legislation, being a cop for many years and having been on City Council for over a year now. Oliver really did do his best in office and Quentin was just holding the fort while Oliver was off fighting aliens. Just as he thought he may have found the right paper, suddenly a strong gust of wind whipped through the room, causing all of the papers to fly in multiple directions, including the one in his hand. Startled, he saw Barry and Oliver standing in front of him in civilian clothes.

"Dammit, Allen. Do you know how long it took me to find that document?" said Quentin, irritated, "Hey Oliver."

"Sorry Mr Lance" said Barry sheepishly.

"Aren't you two supposed to be celebrating or something?" asked Quentin, still annoyed that he had to look for that document all over again.

"Well, Quentin, we'd like for you to come celebrate with us" replied Oliver.

"Why? I didn't do anything. It was all you guys."

"Uhh, Sara's there and you haven't seen her in a while. Plus, it'd be cool if you met some of the others" suggested Barry.

"You make a good point. Ah, what the hell. I'm not finding that document again any time soon. I could use a break" said Quentin as he stood up, "Wait, how are we going to get to Central City though?"

Oliver and Barry both glanced at each other, each smirking a little before turning back to Quentin. Quentin, realising what was about to happen, lifted his hand and was about to scold Barry once more. He wasn't quick enough, as before he could say a word, he felt the sensation of when you stick your hand out a moving car, except 1000 times worse and across his whole body. He barely had any time to process what was happening in those several seconds before he came to a stop and was back on his own two feet. He stumbled a bit as he tried to regain his bearings, slowly recognising that he was in some hanger of sorts.

"Are you okay? Do you need to throw up?" asked Barry.

"No, Barry, I'm just older now. My joints can't take this anymore. You got a glass of water or something?" replied Quentin as he bent down, placing his hands on his aching knees. Barry sped to get a glass of water, and handed it to Quentin who downed it in one attempt before handing it back to Barry. Barry looked at Quentin concernedly, but Oliver tapped him on the shoulder and nodded, reassuring Barry that Quentin would be fine. Sara spotted the three of them and immediately ran over to where they were standing.

"Dad!" she called out as he approached Quentin, who had recovered from being 'superspeeded' for the first time.

"Sara. It's so good to see you" he replied as she hugged him tightly, "Congrats on saving the world again."

"Thanks Dad. How are you?" she asked as the four of them starting walking towards everybody else.

"Oh, I'm fine. Being the Deputy Mayor is great. How are you doing? You know, of all the things I thought you'd amount to, Captain of a…"

"Timeship"

"Yeah, Captain of a Timeship was not the one I was expecting."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"It is one. I'm proud of you, you know that?"

"Of course, Dad"

They reached the rest of the others who were gathered in front of the screens. Sara left Quentin's side to join Amaya, Jax and Diggle who were getting some beer. Felicity popped open the champagne, and Oliver spotted Kara standing next to her. She glanced at him, and he gestured for her to come towards him.

"Quentin, there's someone I'd like for you to meet" said Oliver as he placed his hand on Quentin's shoulder and guided him in the direction of Kara. Quentin didn't spot her immediately, but when he did, he stopped dead in his tracks and simply stared at her. Kara continued walking briskly towards him, smiling even though she was slightly concerned by Quentin's reaction.

"Quentin, this is Kara Danvers of Earth-38" said Oliver.

"Earth-38? Like a parallel universe?" asked Quentin, still in shock.

"Yes. Kara Danvers, this is Quentin Lance. Sara's father and a very good friend of mine"

"It's nice to meet you Mr Lance" she said cheerfully as she extended a hand.

"It's… nice to meet you too" replied Quentin, shaking her hand. Oliver gestured for them to head towards Felicity. Quentin opted for water once again and chose to go join Sara, while Oliver and Barry put their glasses forward for the champagne. After filling her glass, Kara strolled over to Oliver and Barry who had walked off by themselves.

"Hey, hey, guys", she said, catching up to them, "Either of you ever save the world before?"

"Mm-hmm" said Barry.

"Last year" replied Oliver

"It doesn't get old, does it?" asked Kara.

"Nope. It sure beats screwing up the world" replied Barry

"Hey, you are too hard on yourself" said Kara.

"That's what people usually tell me" quipped Oliver.

"And for good reason, I'm sure" replied Kara, giving Oliver a look of sympathy, "But, back on my Earth, it's just me and my cousin. Between the two of us, we're more powerful than…"

"Yeah, everybody in this room combined" interrupted Barry.

"No, no. That's the point" continued Kara, "That's what you've all proven here. Meta-humans or not, superpowers or not, you are Earth's mightiest heroes."

"Well, Kara, the truth is that we wouldn't have been able to do this without you. This Earth could probably use a Supergirl" said Oliver.

"Well, that's funny, because I was just thinking, my Earth could use an Oliver Queen. I know you said you don't get unnerved, but if you did, I think hardship is what makes us stronger. That's probably why these people look to you as their rock."

"You guys feeling the group hug?" asked Barry.

"No" replied Oliver sternly.

"Come on. Come on." Barry and Kara were practically already lunging at him.

"All right" conceded Oliver, as they embraced in a group hug, laughing in unison.

* * *

An hour passed as everybody continued to enjoy each other's company. Given their particular field of work, there wasn't a lot of time for them to simply unwind and have a good time with their friends. There was also little time to celebrate their accomplishments. Right now in the hall, it wasn't just a celebration of their victory against the Dominators, but of everything that they had done in keeping their world safe. Quentin seemed to be enjoying Kara's company. Oliver could see that he was happy to see her again, in some form. He even reacted jovially when Kara displayed her powers to him. She noticed that Oliver was standing alone by himself, and walked over to give him some company.

"You alright?" she asked as she approached him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You and Quentin seem to be getting along."

"Oh, he's very nice. Mind telling me why he reacted like that? Let me guess, he knew my doppelganger" said Kara.

"Yes, but it's not that simple. On this Earth, Kara Danvers' parents died when she was 16. She didn't have any other family, so Quentin took her in and cared for her. He started to love her like she was his own daughter."

"Wow, that's… incredible" replied Kara, with her respect for him increasing even more now.

"Yeah, it is. I never got the chance to say thank you."

"What for?" asked Kara.

"For saving my life" replied Oliver, alluding to how she caught him when he got knocked off the rooftop during the fight with the Dominators, "And for understanding."

"Understanding was the least I could do. Not many people would have had the courage to continue with the mission after what you had to go through."

"Well, just like you said, hardship makes us stronger."

"I really meant it, Oliver. When I said you have my friendship. Now that I have this extrapolator from Cisco, if it's alright with you, perhaps we could soon spend some time together. I'd really love to get to know Oliver Queen."

"Uhh… yeah, sure" replied Oliver nervously, astounded by Kara's suggestion, "I'd love to. Oh and Kara, if you ever need my help, with anything… I'll be there for you. I promise."

After spending the past three and a half years without a Kara Danvers in his life, maybe it would do him some good to let a Kara Danvers back in...

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's the end right there. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. Once again, I simply have to thank danversqueen [IG] for inspiring me to write this story and helping me with the writing process throughout. This story would not have been possible without her. Thank you to all of you who have been reading! If you can, please leave a final review on the whole story, I would greatly appreciate it.
> 
> The sequel will be up soon, and it will focus on Oliver and Kara strengthening the friendship/relationship that they've just laid the foundations for!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this little prologue. I'll upload the rest of the chapters soon :)


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